The CWS® certification is offered by the American Board of Wound Management ABWM®. The CWS® Certified Wound Specialist is an accredited wound care certification that is valid for ten years.
CWS® Certification Information
- 64.9% Passing rate
- $575 Exam application fee
- 150 Questions
- Offered by the ABWM®
- Nationally accredited
- Passing score = 87/125
- Ten year certification
- Requires annual renewal ($150)
- Associate RNs, RNs, BSNs, PTs, PAs and healthcare professionals with Bachelors, Masters, or Doctoral degrees can be eligible
Who is Eligible for CWS® Wound Certification?
Healthcare professionals including RNs, Associate RNs RN-BSNs, PTs, and PAs can all become CWS® certified if they meet all necessary requirements.
Prior to 2019, Associate RNs were limited to the CWCA® certification, but the CWS® is now open to all RNs. Comprehensively, DOs, DPMs, MDs, NPs, DVMs, PAs, PTs, OTs, PharmDs, RDs, and RNs can all become CWS® wound care certified.
The majority of people possessing the CWS® certification are RN-BSNs. Many PTs also choose to become CWS® certified. The CWS® is a ten-year, accredited wound certification offered by the ABWM®.
Prepare for the CWS® Exam with WoundEducators
Because the CWS® has a 64.9% passing rate, we recommend preparing fully before taking your exam. WoundEducators online wound care courses cover all important wound care topics found in the CWS® exam. Don’t let your hard work and money be wasted – let us help you pass your CWS® exam! Our courses cover every aspect of wound care management and include e-textbook(s), quizzes, flashcards, CWS® study guides, and more. Being prepared for the CWS® exam can make all the difference – our online wound care certification courses have helped many healthcare professionals confidently pass their CWS® exam on the first try!
Our wound care courses will also provide Associate RNs, RN-BSNs, BSNs, and PTs with 57 CE hours. If you are an RN-BSN, we recommend taking our BSN wound care course over the RN wound care course, as the information presented in the BSN course is includes advanced wound care knowledge.
CWS® Certification Exam Information & Cost
The cost of the CWS® exam is $575. The exam contains 150 questions, with 25 of those being ungraded. The passing score for the CWS® wound certification exam is 87/125. The re-testing fee is the same cost as the initial exam.
How to Apply for the CWS® Wound Specialist Certification Exam
Follow these simple steps to apply for the CWS® exam.
- Download and review the Certified Wound Specialist® (CWS®) Candidate Handbook
- Create an account and complete your application online.
- Apply for the CWS® exam
- Once your application to sit for the certification examination has been approved, you may schedule your exam for any time in the following 90 days, based on availability at your local testing center.
- Exam scores are generated immediately.
Additional CWS® Certification Professional Requirements
In order to qualify as a candidate, healthcare professionals must also have three years of cumulative wound care experience. The experience does not have to be consecutive. Professionals can prove they have three years of combined experience throughout their career. Like other ABWM® wound care certifications, additional requirements include having an active and unrestricted license. CWS® candidates must submit proof of experience and licenses to the ABWM to get approval to take the exam.
The three years of required wound care experience does not have to be consecutive or continuous. Part-time wound experience still counts! The ABWM® clarifies the wound care experience requirement as: “Wound care does not have to be your primary responsibility to meet the requirement of 3 years of experience, just so long as long as you have a cumulative total of three years of experience in wound care related roles. “
What Should You Do If You Do Not Have Enough Experience to Become CWS® Certified?
Even if you do not have your three years of necessary experience or fellowship, you can still take the WoundEducators.com wound care certification course. (If you do not have the experience at this time, we recommend that you take the wound care certification course and obtain your “certificate of completion” and continuing education hours.
You can present this certificate of completion to your employer. This certificate will show that you have completed an advanced wound management course and may help you to get more wound care experience.
You will not be eligible to take the CWS® exam yet, but you can take our wound care certification course right away. The course will provide you with the necessary wound care knowledge to pass your CWS® exam later on.
ABWM CWS® Candidate Option – New!
In recent years, the ABWM® has also created a CWS® Candidate option for Certification, created for those that have less than three years of wound care experience. The CWS® Candidate program corresponds to the full certification once eligible. The goal of the Candidate pathway is to provide healthcare professionals with another unique option to stay on-track to becoming fully certified once their remaining experience requirement is met.
A Candidate is still required to sit for the exam and maintain a full, unrestricted and active license. The testing fee for a Candidate application is the same as the Certification application since it is transferrable once the experience requirements are accomplished.
Experiential CWS® Fellowship Option
An alternative to having three years of wound care experience is to complete a fellowship in wound care. This fellowship must be certified by a credentialing organization and at least one year. A letter of recommendation must be supplied from the fellowship program director and include a CWS® Certified Wound Specialist that was actively involved in the wound training.
For either path to certification, Certified Wound Specialist candidates must possess a full and unrestricted professional license in at least one state and in all states in which the candidate currently practices.
Other ABWM® Wound Care Certifications
To learn more about the ABWM® and all certifications offered by the ABWM®, visit our wound care certification information page. If you need more information on which certification is right for you, contact us! We love to help our students and future students become certified and find wound management jobs after certification.